The
pursuit and reward of excellence are ancient features of Nigerian
society. Whether we are concern with Old Oyo or the Habe dynasty
of ancient Hausaland; whether our reference is the Benin Kingdom
or the multiple republics of Igboland or indeed, the numerous other
political and social expressions of Nigeria's over three hundred
and fifty ethnic and national groups, men and women of outstanding
talent, achievement and performance have always been recognized
and rewarded by society.

In turn, such recognition and reward derived from the relevance
and utility of such men and their work. Thus, our collective memory
as a people is replete with the recurrence of the names of such
illustrious ancestors as Queen Amina of Zaria, King Jaja of Opobo,
Nana Olomu of the Niger Delta, Moremi of Ife, Madam Tinubu of Lagos
and a host of others..

The Nigeria National Merit Award scheme is an attempt to transpose
this ancient value into a modern potential in the context of our
present day nation - state status. It is designed to accord recognition
to outstanding contribution by individual Nigerians in specific
areas such as Science, Technology, Law, Medicine, Humanities, Arts
and Culture.

While placing on record the names and achievement of some Awards
winners, they do not in any way exhaust the large universe of men
and women of creative talent and intellectual excellence with which
Nigeria as a country is richly blessed.

We salute the achievements of these worthy Nigerians who should
inspire in us the confidence and hope to face the future knowing
that we have all the ingredients to stand tall in the community
of Nations.

Click
on the links below to see the recipients of this prestigious award.